It's Not Summer Without You (I'll Keep Tossing Rocks at Your Window)
by livefreeandshipfree
Summary: Summer was the adventures of Dan and Phil, partners in crime and best friends for life. Or, at least, that's what it used to be. Before Dan moved on to bigger, better things, and decided that he didn't need Phil. (The lovechild of 'Jetpack Blues' by FOB and 'Check Yes, Juliet' by We the Kings)


_Summary: Summer was the adventures of Dan and Phil, partners in crime and best friends for life. Or, at least, that__'s what it used to be. Before Dan moved on to bigger, better things, and decided that he didn't need Phil._

_Word count: 1100_

_Note: Fuck school, I need summer like right now. Also, from Tuesday until Friday, I will be at the beach with limited access to WiFi, so don't expect a lot of activity from me. That is all. Enjoy._

i.

_A list of what summer is:_

_Eating popsicles with Dan_

_Swimming with Dan_

_Getting sunburned while Dan mocks me and tans_

_Sleepovers with Dan and staying up until morning on our laptops_

Summer had always been more than a season for Phil. It was no school and no bullies and no idiots, just Dan and Phil. It had been that way since he and Dan were placed next to each other in Year 1.

Summer was playing in the sprinklers and eating ice cream sandwiches. It was swimming in the lake and catching turtles. As they got older, it was sneaking into the country club and ordering drinks and putting them on a random member's tab. It was stealing Dan's father's vodka and hiding it under Phil's bed. Summer was the adventures of Dan and Phil, partners in crime and best friends for life.

Or, at least, that's what it used to be.

Before Dan moved on to bigger, better things, and decided that he didn't need Phil.

ii.

"What's the big deal?" Dan crossed his arms in front of him. "We always do this."

"I can't get in any more trouble, Dan!" Phil shouted. "My parents said that vodka was the final straw. In case you haven't noticed, they don't like you. If we get caught smoking -"

"So we won't get caught," Dan interrupted smoothly, before taking a carton of cigarettes out of his back pocket. He lit it and took a drag.

"Stop!"

"Why are you so uptight about this all of the sudden?" Dan demanded, throwing his cigarette to the ground and snuffing it with his shoe. "Learn to live a little!"

"If living means doing dangerous, illegal stuff and getting in buttloads of trouble, I'm not sure I want to live!"

"You know what? Fine." Dan pocketed the carton and walked past Phil, towards his house. "I don't need a friend who's constantly shooting down all my ideas. I don't need _you_, Phil." He stalked off.

"I don't need you, either!" Phil screamed after him. It was just a stupid fight. All friends argued once in a while. Surely, this was nothing. Just an insignificant disagreement.

But it felt like the beginning of the end.

iii.

Phil reblogged another _Buffy_ gif on Tumblr, not really paying attention to what it was. It had been two months since he had talked to Dan. School was starting tomorrow. Phil was dreading it.

School was just a cement block full of people who made Phil's life miserable. It had always been bearable with Dan, but without him? Phil wasn't sure he'd last the whole year without dropping out.

He looked at the clock. It was late, almost midnight. Phil shut his laptop and put his head down, hoping for sleep to come quickly. It hadn't recently. Not since, well, you know. Life had been terrible without his best friend. Maybe tonight things would be different, but Phil doubted it.

Phil was halfway asleep when he heard a tap on his window. He tried to ignore it, but then there was another. Louder. And then a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. He sat up and looked out.

Dan was standing in his front yard, throwing rocks at Phil's window. Phil pushed the glass up. "What do you want, Dan?" he asked sourly. "It's late."

"I know that." Dan's voice was quiet. Phil strained to hear him. "But can you come down? We need to talk."

"Tomorrow." Phil went to shut the window.

"No!" He stopped. "No, Phil, it can't wait until tomorrow."

"Fine." Phil shut the window and crept downstairs. He opened the front door, wincing when it creaked, and met Dan in the grass. It was damp and cold on Phil's bare feet. "What is so important that it can't wait until tomorrow?"

Dan dropped his gaze. Phil noticed he was wearing the Muse T-shirt that he had given Dan for his birthday. "I wanted to apologize." Phil snorted. "Hear me out, okay? I was an ass, and I'm sorry about it. I don't want to start school tomorrow without fixing this, because that place is a hellhole full of fucks that I don't give and I don't want to go alone."

"If you're being sincere," Phil began, "Why did you wait until now to tell me that you're sorry? Did you really come to the conclusion _just now_? Or am I just not important enough, that you didn't feel the need to apologize until just before it was too late?"

"This whole summer, I tried to carry on as normal, but I couldn't. So then I got drunk, smoked, and partied, thinking that I could block it out, but I couldn't. But even though I knew I had to, I couldn't apologize. My fucking pride kept the words trapped under my tongue. But about an hour ago, I finally grew a pair and just said _fuck it, I miss Phil. I have to tell him that_."

"But why, Dan? Why do you miss me?" Phil demanded, not convinced. Dan was a fantastic liar. "Do you miss having someone to drink with and someone to hide the alcohol? Because if that's the case, you're out of luck." He turned to go back inside.

Dan grabbed the back of Phil's shirt. "Wait! That's not it at all."

"Then what is it, Dan? Tell me. Why couldn't you enjoy your summer without me?"

Dan stepped closer to Phil until his shirt brushed against Phil's jellyfish one. "Because," he whispered, "It's not summer without you."

Phil closed the remaining inches between them and captured the slightly taller male in a kiss. It was breathtaking. He wrapped his arms around the other.

When they finally pulled apart, Phil began to laugh. "Why are you laughing, you weirdo?" Dan was blushing, but Phil was a fucking _tomato_.

"I just realized, you made a pun."

"What?"

"When you said, 'It's not summer without you?' You can't spell the word 'summer' without the letter 'U.' That's a pun. Or a joke. or something."

Dan didn't dignify that with a response, just kissed him again.


End file.
